Straining To See (Chet Pete)

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.480 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.800 Enjoy the message. If we haven't met before, my name 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.040 is said, I'm the pastor at our university city campus. 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:33.360 We'll go and uh, my dad is in the room, 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.760 and uh, let's say in front of everybody, Happy Father's 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:43.920 Day to my dad, to my father, I'll say this 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:48.199 theve the greatest gift. The greatest gift you gave me 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:52.120 wasn't a pair of shoes. The greatest gift you gave 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.320 me was me seeing you give your life to Jesus. 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:03.560 You see, I had the great opportunity to be able 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:08.560 to see my dad before Jesus and after. I'm not 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.600 saying he's perfect. I'm just saying it's better. It's much better. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.040 It's much better. It's much better. And I'll tell you this, 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.440 if you're a god in the room, the greatest gift 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.199 you could give your kids is for them to see 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:24.440 you following Jesus. It's for them to see you serving Jesus. 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.720 It's for them to see you running after His purpose 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.200 is for your life. And I have to take a 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.240 moment in honor the father of this house. Can we 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.440 thank God for our pastor, Pastor Steven, And while we're 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:44.800 at it, let's praise God for Holly too. God. The 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.920 thing that I gotta say about Pastor is is that 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.440 I just thank God that he is a pastor that 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.640 sees me, not only sees what I can do for him, 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.040 but sees what God is trying to do in me. 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.160 I thank God for my pastor seeing me. I did 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.360 not see myself standing on a stage being a pastor 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.200 at Elevation Church. This has all blown my mind. But 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.600 it's beautiful to be able to have a pastor that 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.120 sees you, that sees you coming. If you walk in 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.920 every Sunday and you're like my pastor been following me 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:24.600 around he bugged my phones. Thank God, Thank God for 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.840 a pastor that sees, that sees that season. Can I 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:33.400 sing to my wife, Whitney, I love you, Whitney, I 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:39.320 love you. Y'all Ready for me to get to my 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.160 scripture for today? All right, all right, all right, we're 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:48.280 gonna be in Mark chapter six, Mark chapter six, Mark 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:53.240 chapter six. You're gonna see the scriptures on the screen. 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.280 If you're taking notes, write down mark chapter six, verses 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:03.000 forty five through fifty one. We're gonna jump in right 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.040 here and praying and believing that God's gonna do it 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:11.320 only he can do today. God touch my mind, touch 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:16.760 my lips, God flow through me today. Open up the 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.520 eyes of your sons and daughters. We love you, We 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.520 thank you, And it's in the mighty name of Jesus, 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.120 I pray amen, verse forty five. You'll sit on the screen. 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:30.320 It says, immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:32.760 Can I just preach while I'm reading a scripture? I'm sorry, 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.720 but that just jumped out to me that a lot 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.640 of times in my life, the miracles that I experience 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.800 are on the other side of Jesus making me do something. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.640 Sometimes it's a push from God, not my plans, that 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:52.240 leads me to see so much that God is doing. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:56.040 He made his disciples get into the boat and go 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.520 ahead of him. To best say it a while, he 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:03.120 dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.960 a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.840 in the middle of the lake and he was alone 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.560 on land. He saw the Disciples straining at the oars 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.960 because the wind was against them. Shortly before don he 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:24.480 went out to them walking on the lake. What a sight. 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:30.400 Imagine what that would have looked like. My favorite movie 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.640 right now is The Equalizer. I imagine he walked out 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:42.359 there like Denzel just I don't know about you, but 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:47.680 my Jesus walks like Denzel, walks like Denzel. He came 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.080 to them walking on the lake. He was about to 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:54.359 pass them by, but when they saw him walking on 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.839 the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They crowd out, 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.120 They cried out because they all saw oh him and 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:06.719 were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, take courage, 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:11.200 it is I don't be afraid. Then he climbed into 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.640 the boat with them, and the wind died down, and 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:20.440 they were completely amazed. The title of my message today 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:26.680 is called Straining to see. Straining to see on your 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.040 way to your seat, asked your neighbor. I asked him, 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.080 say when was the last time you got your eyes checked? 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:44.520 You can be seated. You can be seated. The reason 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:51.919 I asked, is because many of you were straining to 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:57.039 see the scriptures on the screen, and those of you 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.839 that wear glasses, how is looking over them? Lynz help you? 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:07.760 How does that help you see? Well? He me and 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.159 my wife we have identical twin boys, Carson and Carter. 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:16.080 They will be thirteen next month. I'm gonna have teenagers. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:21.720 And yeah, pray for me anytime, anytime we have a 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.240 major shift like this, I get real nostalgic. I love 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.800 going back and looking at pictures. And here's a picture 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.159 from their preschool graduation right here on the screen. Their 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:40.239 preschool graduation right here. Yeah, so sweet. Now, I'll be honest, 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.560 no matter how hard I strain, I can't tell you 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:48.880 who's who on this picture. I have no idea which 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:54.479 ones Carter, which ones Carson. I turned my head sideways. 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.000 I really don't know. I really don't know. And if 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.000 Whitney tells you she knows, she's live, she don't know 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.880 who it is. She doesn't know who it is. But 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.839 a couple of weeks ago, my boys just finished sixth 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.240 grade and we were at their awards ceremony, and so 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.120 here's the picture for when they had all ab on 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:17.520 a row for the whole year. So proud of my boys. 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:22.400 Where did my babies go? Where did my babies go? Now, 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.040 if you pay attention to Carter, who's standing next to 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:30.080 my wife, Whitney, you see Carter actually has on glasses 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.880 in this picture. Okay, so just remember that. You'll freak 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:35.720 them out if you see him. You come up and say, hey, Carter. 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.560 You know it's Carter because he's the one with glasses. 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.840 You can pull you can pull the picture down. A 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.200 couple of years ago, we went to the doctor and 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:47.000 we found out that that one of Carter's eyes didn't 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.040 develop all the way and so he had to wear 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.400 patch for a little bit to strengthen the other eye. 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.720 And so we went to the doctor. They tested his 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.760 eyes and they were like, oh gosh, he's straining. He's 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:03.120 straining to see. You see my son Carter could see, 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:10.160 but he couldn't see well. My son could see what 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.600 he couldn't see well. And I remember when he got 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.360 his glasses for the first time. He did it three 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.200 sixty and he was like, did it always look like this? 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:22.040 Did it always? Did it always look so clear? So Chris, 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.720 but what happened? What happened? And God really spoke to 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:27.640 me because I don't know about you, but I want 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.480 to see all God has for me. I don't want 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:35.600 to miss anything, and I'm gonna preach about that for 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.680 a second. So get ready to praise God, because I'm 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.880 telling you God has some good things in store for you. 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.120 But this week, God gave me a real time illustration, 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.760 and I prayed and fasted on whether or I was 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:51.600 gonna show you this because I'm not gonna lie. It's 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:56.120 kind of embarrassing. And just to give some context, anybody 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.800 watched the show Ridiculousness. Okay, so this is one of 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:05.640 those videos that you could see on Ridiculousness. Somebody put 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.000 a pole in the office in front of Elevation Worship 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:14.240 Studios that I didn't know was there. I didn't know 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.440 it was there. I'm gonna show this video one time, 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:19.840 one time, one time. If you want to see it again, 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.400 you're gonna have to go back and watch it on YouTube. 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:39.000 But go ahead and show them this video. Hey, I 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.679 could preach about the fact that I didn't stop after 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.080 I could hit. I could preach about it, but here's 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:49.480 the thing. I ran into that wall. Why because I 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:54.280 didn't see it. I got a question, what things are 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:59.559 you running into because you you couldn't see it? Are 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:04.640 you into bad relationships because you couldn't see it? Are 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:10.640 you running into horrible financial decisions because you didn't see it? 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.320 Are you making bad business moves running into things because 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.000 you couldn't see it clearly? Or it works the other way, 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:26.440 because some of you are missing miracles because you just 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:30.480 don't see it. Some of you your vision is blurred, 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.560 and so you're missing the blessings that God has in 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:36.680 front of you. And so I'm telling you, I don't 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.280 know about you. I want to see my family blessed. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.640 I want to see my marriage blessed. I want to 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:47.040 see my ministry blessed. I want to see my church blessed. 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:51.400 I want to see my health blessed. I don't know 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.600 about you, but I want to see a full picture 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.839 of everything God has for my life. Here's the thing 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:03.839 about when you have resion, you don't see reality well right. 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:10.160 And when you don't see reality well, it gets delusional 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:14.840 and it gets real dangerous. And for some of you 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.400 been running into some things and missing some things for 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.000 far too long. And God sent me here today to 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.440 deal with your sight, tap your neighbors say, I'm gonna 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.679 see it today. I'm gonna see it today. I'm gonna 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.680 see it today. And so when we go back to 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:34.000 our text for it today, we see that the disciples 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:41.319 are in this boat, straining, straining to see what Jesus said. 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.280 You see, Jesus said, I need you to get into 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.559 the boat, and I need you to go to best 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:52.800 say to where is Jesus sending you? Where's Jesus sending you? 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:54.160 And I'm gonna tell you to that. I don't know 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.199 about you. I'm gonna strain until I see what Jesus said. 0:11:57.920 --> 0:11:59.080 You see a lot of us, a lot of us 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:00.760 our times we read the Bible, we make fun of 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.880 the disciples. They're dude, usually doing something stupid, something foolish. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.680 But in this text, in this text, I started to 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:11.120 applaud because when Jesus said get into the boat and 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.560 go to the other side, he left some details out. 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:15.880 He didn't tell them that the wind was going to 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.600 be blowing in the wrong direction. He didn't tell them 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.280 that they were going to be going against the grain. 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:23.320 And so I don't know about you. I would have 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.800 been a little bit frustrated at the fact that I'm 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.439 doing what Jesus told me to do, and it's starting 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:33.640 to get hard. So just for a second, I want 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:35.719 to deal with your perseverance. Am I in a room 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:37.800 for the people that are fighters, that won't give up 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.080 at the first sign of trouble, at the first sign 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.920 of adversity. You see me and my wife, we just 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:52.600 celebrated sixteen years. Sixteen years in January. We got married 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.920 at twenty one. We got married at twenty one. We 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:02.280 had to strain through being dumb. We had to strain 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:07.560 through some insecurity, we had to strain through some financial struggles. 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:12.320 We had to strain through some health scares, to strain 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:17.160 through some loss of loved ones. I want to take 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:19.080 a moment in front of everybody, whole church and just 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:28.360 tell my wife, thank you, thank you for straining with me, 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.840 because I knew when I stood at that isle. I 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.080 cried when she came down and she was laughing, she 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:42.000 was laughing, she was laughing, But I knew God told 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:46.560 me that my marriage would be blessed. I don't know 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.200 what you're dealing with or what you're going through today, 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.800 but God told me to tell you to strain to 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:56.080 see what Jesus said, strain to see it. Don't give up, 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.719 don't throw in the towel. Some of you decided to 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:03.280 say at the first time of an obstacle that came, 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:08.360 some of you decided to stop at the moment that 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:15.960 it got difficult. Strain to see what Jesus said, Strained 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.040 to see what he said. Some of you are like 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.040 it said. I hear you, but I've been straining for 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.520 a long time, and if I could be honest, some 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.760 I'm getting tired of straining. If I could be honest, 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.640 I feel like I've heard this before. As I was 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.560 reading and I was studying, I found out that it 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.560 would have taken them anywhere from six to eight hours 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:43.320 to make it from one side of this lake to 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:46.160 the other side of the lake. Now the wind was 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.920 blowing against them, so that probably would have added more 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:53.080 time to their journey. Now in the Texas says that 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.840 Jesus saw them in the middle of the lake. They 0:14:55.880 --> 0:15:00.960 have been straining at least five hours. I can imagine 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:05.680 they were tired. I can imagine they were exhausted. I 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.800 can imagine that Peter was like, hey, listen, let's go back. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:15.720 This is dumb, this is stupid. Just let's stop. Let's stop. 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.160 And there's one thing, one thing that jumped out in 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.480 this text for me that I want to preach for 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:22.520 a second. Put up verse forty eight for me. Put 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:24.720 up verse forty eight for me. It says he saw 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:30.160 the disciples straining. Watch. It says at the oars, straining, 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.400 at the oars, he saw them. So here's the thing 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:34.960 that I want you to know right now. You probably 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:40.280 should write this down, is that don't strain alone. Don't 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:45.160 don't strain, don't strain alone. Don't strain alone. Don't strain 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:49.240 by yourself. And I'm trying. It was it was dim 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.560 it was day that were in this boat straining. Some 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:58.080 of you. You're not going far because you haven't invited 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:05.480 friends into your situation to I tell you the truth. 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.400 There's been some time in the sixteen years. I thank god, 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:15.040 I have some friends autumn come to the house. See 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.960 the Oh mah, we're gonna show up today. I've had 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.960 some friends that in the middle of some straining. Here 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:23.840 here here, I'll make it. I'll make it clear. You 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.880 need to have some friends that can take an oar. 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:30.480 You need you need to have some friends that will 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.080 take an oar. Because because some of you, some of you, 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.400 you've been straining for a long time, but you're straining 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.400 in circles because you're on one side of the boat, 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.840 straining by yourself. You've been circling some things for a 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.240 long time. Hey, can I can I go as far 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.320 to say this one's gonna hurt. You've been straining for 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:54.520 a long time and it's your fault. I'm going in 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:59.880 circles because I ain't let a friend take an oar. Hey, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:01.360 can I make it plain? Let me tell you about 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:05.640 an or oh oh, oh, oh oh, you feel overwhelmed. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.720 I need a friend that can take me when I'm overwhelmed. Hey, 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:13.960 I got some anxiety. My hand's all over the place. 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.159 I need some friends that can handle me when my 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.280 mind's all over the place. In oh, I need some 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.880 people that when I'm ready to give up, when I'm 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:29.760 ready to throw in the towel, they can take an oor. Hey, 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:31.600 can you take a moment and thank God for your 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.119 friends that have jumped in and helped you in the 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.159 moments that you couldn't give up, that helped you move forward. 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:41.920 And if you're here today, you were like I love 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:43.800 to have a friend that can take it off. I 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.720 love to have somebody jump into this situation with me. 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.720 Every Sunday, JJ stands on this stage at Valentine on 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.280 my campus, Bachelor stands on stage at their campuses. You 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.080 have chat zolo online and every single week you wanna 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.280 hear something about, Hey, we got an e group for you. 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:06.119 Hey join and eat team, start serving today. It's not 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.960 something that we want from you. With something we want 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.600 for you, you need to have some friends that will 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:19.800 take in or but also also also just like my 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:25.160 son couldn't see, well, maybe you need some glasses. Maybe 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:29.919 maybe maybe maybe you need some glasses. And there's two parts, 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.280 two parts, two parts the glasses. The first part, first part, 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.760 I want to explain. I had to take we had 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.119 to take my son Carter to the store to be 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.000 able to get his first set of glasses. I remember, 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.040 couldn't see and finally he was able to get his prescription. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:48.840 And so I couldn't go with Whitney and the boys 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.399 to the store. I couldn't go with them. So Whitney 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.879 took them and you know when she she facetimed me 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:56.760 at the store and it was one of those face 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.920 times where she was like, hey, husband, I got an 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.680 for you, like she was done, Like she was done. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.280 The boys was getting on her last nerves, on her 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:07.880 last nerves, on he last nerd, and I was like, hey, 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:09.879 what's going on, what's going on? What's going on? And 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.880 so she explained to me what was going on. Those 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.240 of you that wear glasses or contacts, you you will 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:21.560 understand this. There's two sections, two sections in the store 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:27.679 where you get glasses. There's this section that the insurance 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:37.320 pays for. Sometimes this is square, but this is the 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:44.399 place that the insurance play pays for. My son, my 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:51.720 loving son with so much swagger. Where do you think 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:57.520 he's at the designer frames? My son is trying on 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:04.120 Gucci frames and brittle frames like he has a job. 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.879 I told my wife, I said, hey, babe, if you 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:12.480 don't tell that boy to get over that to the 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.280 other side, that I'm leave and come over there and 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.000 get you. The reason why I bring it up, the 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:20.840 reason why I bring it up is because God spoke 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:22.960 to me. As I reflected on it is because my 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.439 son was trying to let me know I can't do 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:30.159 cheap frames. It went right over their head. It went 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.680 right over their head. Some of you are looking through 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.359 cheap frames. And here's the thing I know about chief frames. 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:43.040 They're easily broken. Some of you, some of you, you 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.000 need a new frame today. You need something else to 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:48.880 frame what you're looking at, where you're going. And here's 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.920 the thing about frames. Put this up there. Frames give strength. 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:58.240 Frames give strength. Now, remember why are they on this lake. 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:05.679 It's not it why Jesus told them to go. You 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.280 want to know what's going to give you strength? A 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:12.920 word from God, A word from a word from God. 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.880 When he got tired, When they got tired and they 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:19.200 were ready to give up, somebody had a frame. They said, hey, hey, 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:24.240 we can't give up because Jesus said, we can't give 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.399 up because I got a word from the Lord. I 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.679 can't stop because he said go to best say them. 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:33.760 I can't throw in the towel because I'm heading in 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.639 the direction that he's sending me to go to. That's 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.360 why it's so important to show up to church. It's 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:45.040 because you're getting tired, you're getting a weak and you 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:50.200 need a word from God. But that's why you have 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:56.160 a Bible, or you have a Bible at your house 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:01.560 that you can open up when you get tired and 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:05.159 you get weak, because you need a word from the Lord. 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:09.320 How far you go may be determined by how strong 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.920 your frame is. Now, who can stand up and maybe 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.119 praise God for a second, because I've seen God's word 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:22.840 never failed. I've seen God's word never go. I've seen 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:28.400 him speak life and there was life. I've seen him 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:33.000 seak healing and there was healing. I've seen couples ready 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:36.719 to walk the other way and God spoke about a word. 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:42.119 I've seen God's word works. Tell your neighbors say, hey, 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:44.200 I got a frame. I got a frame. I got 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:46.760 a frame. I got a frame. I got a frame. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:52.080 When I look back over my life and I think 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:56.199 things over, I can truly say that I've been blessed. 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.600 I got a testimony. And guess where it started. When 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:04.080 Jesus said, when Jesus said, when Jesus said, you could 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:05.520 be seid, he could be sity, you could be seated. 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:07.840 You need a frame. You need a frame. You need 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:10.400 a frame to give you strength. You need a frame 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:12.760 to give you strength. But not only that. I don't 0:23:12.800 --> 0:23:14.960 know if you remember, back back in the early two thousand, 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:16.400 we used to think we were cool. We were wearing 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:20.959 frames with no lenses, don't leaven by myself. Who else 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:22.200 did it? Who else did it? Who has did it? Was? 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:24.600 Who else did it? Who else did it? Who has 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:28.320 did it? So it's one thing to have a frame, 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:32.560 but you gotta participate in this, and so you need 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:36.399 a lens and so so so so we gotta we gotta, 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.919 we gotta frame. That's what gives strength. And then you 0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:45.479 have a lens. That's what gives sight. You have a lens, 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:50.560 and that's what gives sighting. Something interesting happens in the 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:53.160 text that I want to use to break this down. 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:56.000 Look at this in verse forty eight. It says he 0:23:56.200 --> 0:24:00.239 saw the disciples straining at the ords because the end 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:05.080 was against them. Shortly before dawn. He went out to 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:09.320 them walking on the lake. They didn't recognize and they 0:24:09.359 --> 0:24:13.840 was like, yo, that's Denzel. Yo, you saw equalized it. 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:20.359 That was that was him out there. So I'm walking 0:24:20.359 --> 0:24:24.680 on the lake. They thought it was a ghost. They 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:28.480 crowd out because they all saw him and were terrified. 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.359 This is it says immediately he spoke to them and said, 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:41.879 take courage. It is I don't be afraid this. This 0:24:42.080 --> 0:24:45.480 really really leaped out to me because Jesus was close 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.359 enough for them to hear for them to hear his voice, 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:57.359 but they still didn't recognize him. This this really jumped 0:24:57.400 --> 0:24:59.879 out to me. And as I was studying, I was like, 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:03.280 you know what, no disciples, they need to get their 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:07.479 eyes checked too. You know. So if I was an 0:25:07.520 --> 0:25:12.440 optometrist and I went to school for a lot of years, 0:25:13.160 --> 0:25:16.400 I would have learned about this eye chart, this eye 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:18.640 chart that that they used to be able to test 0:25:18.640 --> 0:25:20.320 your So let me let me show you this eye chart. 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:23.560 This is called the Snelling eye chart. It's called the 0:25:23.560 --> 0:25:28.000 Snelling eye chart. And doctor Snelling he used this eye 0:25:28.080 --> 0:25:30.160 chart to be able to test a lot of different things. 0:25:30.160 --> 0:25:32.040 Some of you just remembered when you find out you 0:25:32.080 --> 0:25:35.000 were blind. When you saw this, you just were triggered 0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:39.199 by this. You were triggered by this. And and I 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:40.840 was studying, and there's there's a lot of different things 0:25:40.840 --> 0:25:46.440 that it tests. It tests ey sharpness, it tests eye movement. 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:49.879 You see the green in the red line, It tests 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:52.399 whether or not you're your color blind. So if you 0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:54.960 didn't see a green in a red line, there you go. 0:25:57.119 --> 0:25:59.760 And here's the thing that really stood out to me. 0:26:00.560 --> 0:26:03.320 Stood out to me, is you see see that there's 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:07.960 there's ten e's, ten e's, ten e's on this I chart, 0:26:08.040 --> 0:26:12.639 there's ten letter E'SE. There are ten letter ease and uh, 0:26:12.720 --> 0:26:14.720 those of you that are trying to count them, if 0:26:14.760 --> 0:26:19.679 you did not see the big E up top, I 0:26:19.760 --> 0:26:24.960 want to make it home today. So please don't don't drive. 0:26:25.040 --> 0:26:27.760 Okay if you can't see the big E. But all 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:29.240 the way from the top, all the way to the bottom, 0:26:29.280 --> 0:26:33.320 there are ten e's on this chart. And you know, 0:26:33.680 --> 0:26:36.199 as I'm studying, as I'm preparing and I'm praying, I 0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:37.760 kind of got frustrated. I was like, why am I 0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:41.639 going down this rabbit hole? Like why? Why? Why? You 0:26:41.680 --> 0:26:43.080 know people are gonna be looking at me like I'm 0:26:43.080 --> 0:26:45.400 crazy talking about the E and I'm not an optometrist, 0:26:45.480 --> 0:26:48.760 Like God, what are you doing? And something really really 0:26:48.880 --> 0:26:51.520 jumped out to me. I was really really blessed by 0:26:51.520 --> 0:26:54.159 what God spoke to me. And because you know, the 0:26:54.520 --> 0:26:57.360 E is, when you look this up, is actually the 0:26:57.359 --> 0:27:02.400 most common letter in the English alphabet, the ears used 0:27:02.440 --> 0:27:05.479 more than any other letter. And it has this vertical 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:08.679 line in this three straight lines, which makes it harder 0:27:08.720 --> 0:27:11.800 sometimes to be able to see. And and so here 0:27:11.920 --> 0:27:14.560 here's Here's what God told me to tell you today. 0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:16.520 I want you to write this down. He told me 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:20.440 to tell you to look for E. Tell me to 0:27:20.480 --> 0:27:23.040 tell you look, look look for E. Look for Tap. 0:27:23.040 --> 0:27:26.600 Your neighbors say, look for E. Look for em. Now, 0:27:26.640 --> 0:27:30.040 I'm not talking about E Edwards who plays the guitar. 0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:38.160 I'm not talking about Erica or Eric. God really spoke 0:27:38.200 --> 0:27:39.600 to me. He said, Hey, I need you to go 0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:42.520 back a little bit to the Book of Matthew, and 0:27:42.560 --> 0:27:44.920 you're going to go to chapter one, verse twenty three, 0:27:45.000 --> 0:27:46.840 and you'll see who he is. Put it up on 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:51.480 the screens for me. It says its behold, a virgin 0:27:51.560 --> 0:27:56.760 shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, 0:27:57.160 --> 0:28:03.960 and they shall call his name em Manuel, which being 0:28:04.080 --> 0:28:09.280 interpreted as God with us. Hey, some of you you 0:28:09.359 --> 0:28:13.760 know Jehovah, Jirah, you know Jehovah Nieci, But some of 0:28:13.800 --> 0:28:17.200 you today you needed to learn about E. You needed 0:28:17.200 --> 0:28:21.720 to know about Emmanuel, God with us. I don't care 0:28:21.760 --> 0:28:25.359 where you find yourself. You can look around and find Eve. 0:28:25.920 --> 0:28:30.520 I don't know what situation you're going through. Don't matter 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:33.560 how high you are or how low you are, you 0:28:33.680 --> 0:28:36.240 better look for Ee. Some of y'all still didn't get it, 0:28:36.280 --> 0:28:38.280 So let me make it plain. Hey, put up wedding, 0:28:38.280 --> 0:28:41.240 Put up wedding, put up wedding. Anybody engaged in the room. 0:28:41.480 --> 0:28:43.880 Anybody engaged in the room. Hey, I'll see y'all see. Okay, Hey, 0:28:44.000 --> 0:28:47.600 on your wedding day, ask the pastor that's officiating to 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:51.680 do the three strand coord braid, because on your wedding 0:28:51.760 --> 0:28:56.280 day you better look free. You see, one quarter represents 0:28:56.280 --> 0:29:00.000 the husband, one quarter represents the wife. But I will 0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:05.480 on my marriage to have e woven through it. But 0:29:05.640 --> 0:29:07.920 some of you enemy just start trying to speak to 0:29:07.960 --> 0:29:09.719 your ear. You're like, hey, but I just walk through 0:29:09.720 --> 0:29:12.920 a divorce. Here's the thing I know about divorce is 0:29:12.960 --> 0:29:15.080 when you get all the way, come on, put divorce 0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:19.920 up on the screen. Oh, somebody helped me preach today 0:29:21.800 --> 0:29:24.320 when I get all the way to the end of 0:29:24.400 --> 0:29:26.920 that divorce. I was sitting with my friend this week 0:29:27.520 --> 0:29:29.760 and he was telling me about walking through a divorce, 0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:32.800 and he said, at the end of it all that 0:29:32.920 --> 0:29:36.960 Jesus never left him, that Jesus never forgotten about him. 0:29:37.280 --> 0:29:40.600 He still saw his goodness, he still saw his grace. 0:29:41.320 --> 0:29:43.400 Some of you might be going through some sickness in 0:29:43.440 --> 0:29:46.480 your body. I'm telling you, if you find yourself going 0:29:46.480 --> 0:29:48.640 through sickness, at the end of sickness, there's an E. 0:29:49.840 --> 0:29:52.040 But some of you are like, hey, I will find 0:29:52.120 --> 0:29:57.120 God when I get healed. He's there too. He's there too. 0:29:57.240 --> 0:30:00.760 He's there too. It's always reflect on this. This is I 0:30:00.960 --> 0:30:03.880 was reflecting on this. I remember back in twenty twenty one. 0:30:04.360 --> 0:30:06.640 This is probably one of the hardest seasons of me 0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:09.560 and my family's life. Last time I preached, I shared 0:30:09.600 --> 0:30:11.959 a little bit about this, that my mother was in 0:30:12.000 --> 0:30:15.320 a horrible accident. Matter of fact, my mother is still 0:30:15.320 --> 0:30:18.360 in a coma to this day. And and and we 0:30:18.440 --> 0:30:20.760 flew out to Arizona to be able to see and 0:30:20.800 --> 0:30:22.840 it was all kinds of craziness going on. It was, 0:30:23.040 --> 0:30:25.479 I'm telling you it was. It was. It was hard experience, 0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:29.920 probably the most difficult experience of my whole life. And 0:30:29.960 --> 0:30:32.479 I remember, I remember when we got there, we went 0:30:32.520 --> 0:30:35.320 into these hospital rooms and going back and forth, and 0:30:35.360 --> 0:30:37.280 it was a lot. It was a lot. The moment 0:30:37.320 --> 0:30:39.920 I came back home, remember this is twenty twenty one. 0:30:40.160 --> 0:30:42.280 Moment I came back home, I wasn't even home a week. 0:30:43.000 --> 0:30:46.480 I ended up catching COVID, and and when I got COVID, 0:30:47.600 --> 0:30:52.320 it didn't get better. It kept getting worse. My oxygen 0:30:52.440 --> 0:30:55.080 level had dropped all the way down to eighty nine. 0:30:57.240 --> 0:30:59.680 And my wife looked at me and she said, you 0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:07.240 go to the doctor. Men go to the doctor. Not 0:31:07.360 --> 0:31:12.440 gonna be more elegant and than that. Goo. Go to 0:31:12.480 --> 0:31:15.640 the doctor. Yes you're in God's hands, but yes it's 0:31:15.680 --> 0:31:18.760 the doctor's in God's hands too. So I'm hying if 0:31:18.800 --> 0:31:21.480 you haven't going to get a yearly check up in 0:31:21.560 --> 0:31:29.880 some years. I went to the doctor. I went to 0:31:29.960 --> 0:31:31.720 the doctor. Finally, I went to the doctor. Mary, She's 0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:34.040 gonna have to go. My oxygen level wouldn't go up. 0:31:34.080 --> 0:31:35.840 And the doctor looked at me and he said, hey, listen, 0:31:36.040 --> 0:31:39.040 I'm gonna have to keep you overnight. I'm gonna have 0:31:39.080 --> 0:31:42.280 to keep you overnight. So I got oxygen and I'm 0:31:42.280 --> 0:31:45.680 telling you. He closed the door. I start speaking and something, 0:31:45.680 --> 0:31:47.840 I'm getting out of here. There, Hallelujah, thank you God, 0:31:48.480 --> 0:31:52.320 shout out like sheesus, I need you. I'm getting out 0:31:52.320 --> 0:31:54.960 of here. I started remember Pastor Stephens prayers. I was like, 0:31:55.200 --> 0:31:58.280 I've breathe you in Holy spirit, and your strength comes 0:31:58.280 --> 0:32:00.760 suddenly I'm doing them all. I'm doing all I mean. 0:32:00.800 --> 0:32:04.400 I'm like, I'm getting out of this hospital room. I'm 0:32:04.400 --> 0:32:07.200 getting out of this hospital room. It was scary. It 0:32:07.240 --> 0:32:09.960 was scary. It was scary. But God spoke to me. 0:32:11.080 --> 0:32:14.240 Because I had seen more hospital rooms and more than 0:32:14.280 --> 0:32:17.600 I had seen in my whole life. God spoke to me. 0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:21.680 He says, you know what, every time you walked into 0:32:21.720 --> 0:32:24.240 the hospital, there was a word on the door that 0:32:24.280 --> 0:32:32.680 said entrance. I said. Every time you walked out, that 0:32:32.880 --> 0:32:36.360 was a word that said exit. And here's the thing 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:40.400 that God showed me. It doesn't matter what you're walking into, 0:32:41.040 --> 0:32:45.000 it doesn't matter what you're walking out of. At every entrance, 0:32:45.360 --> 0:32:54.680 in every exit, there is an eed. Hey listen, he listen. 0:32:54.720 --> 0:32:57.720 I feel faith rising. If you're missing it, I'm so sorry. 0:32:57.800 --> 0:33:01.680 You better look free. That's the lens. That's the lens 0:33:01.760 --> 0:33:05.360 that you need to look through. There's no situation that 0:33:05.400 --> 0:33:08.720 you'll find yourself in that you won't be able to 0:33:08.880 --> 0:33:15.400 find your God. He'll never leave you, he'll never forsake you. 0:33:15.400 --> 0:33:19.400 You gotta look for him. You need a frame, You 0:33:19.440 --> 0:33:24.080 need a lens. The frame gives strength, the lens gives sight. 0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:29.840 But all of that school, God minister to me. I 0:33:31.080 --> 0:33:34.800 hope that minister to you. But that wasn't the biggest 0:33:34.800 --> 0:33:36.680 thing that God showed me in the text. Can I 0:33:36.720 --> 0:33:39.239 show you, can I show you, can I show you. 0:33:40.280 --> 0:33:43.440 The thing that really stood out to me was that 0:33:43.640 --> 0:33:46.760 verse forty five. Put verse forty five up on the screen. 0:33:47.320 --> 0:33:51.480 Put verse forty five up on the screen. Immediately, Jesus 0:33:51.560 --> 0:33:56.040 made his disciples get into the boat and go on 0:33:56.120 --> 0:33:59.160 ahead of him to best say that while he dismissed 0:33:59.200 --> 0:34:03.080 the crowd forty six forty six, forty six forty six 0:34:04.040 --> 0:34:10.239 after leaving, after leaving them, he went up on a 0:34:10.280 --> 0:34:15.200 mountain side to pray. I wonder what Jesus was praying 0:34:15.239 --> 0:34:18.719 on the side of that mountain as he climbed up 0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:21.759 that mountain. I wonder what Jesus was praying. I wonder 0:34:21.800 --> 0:34:24.520 what he was praying for. I think he was praying 0:34:24.560 --> 0:34:27.200 for the disciples. I think he was praying that God 0:34:27.200 --> 0:34:29.440 would give him strength. I think he was praying that 0:34:29.480 --> 0:34:32.480 they wouldn't give up. I think he was just praying 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:35.120 for them. But he went way up, way up, way up, 0:34:35.120 --> 0:34:38.759 way up on top of this mountain. Says that he 0:34:38.840 --> 0:34:41.640 was on a mountain side praying your praying man right, 0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:45.560 Praise God, Praise God. God knew I needed to pick 0:34:45.600 --> 0:34:50.720 this side. Jesus was up on the mountain side praying 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:53.680 forty six, forty seven, let me see it, let me 0:34:53.719 --> 0:34:58.480 see it. Later that night the boat was in the 0:34:58.520 --> 0:35:01.560 middle of the lake and he was alone on land 0:35:03.400 --> 0:35:09.600 forty eight he saw the disciples straining at the oars. 0:35:13.239 --> 0:35:18.600 That really blessed me because maybe this message isn't about 0:35:18.640 --> 0:35:27.560 my sight. Maybe it's about Jesus. Remember, they had been 0:35:27.640 --> 0:35:35.920 out there rowing for a long time, at least five hours, 0:35:35.920 --> 0:35:39.719 into the middle of the lake, and Jesus is on 0:35:39.880 --> 0:35:43.960 top of this mountain, the mountain side praying. This blessed 0:35:43.960 --> 0:35:50.200 me because it says he saw them. God wanted me 0:35:50.239 --> 0:35:52.160 to tell somebody it doesn't matter how far you think 0:35:52.200 --> 0:36:02.440 you are from God. He sees you. You you may have 0:36:02.520 --> 0:36:08.600 to strain to see Jesus. He's never taking his eyes 0:36:08.640 --> 0:36:16.040 off of you. And Proverbs, as this versus says, for 0:36:16.080 --> 0:36:20.640 the people perish for a lack of vision. I've always 0:36:20.640 --> 0:36:22.120 heard that and I was like, have a vision, have 0:36:22.160 --> 0:36:24.960 a vision for your life. But when God was ministering 0:36:25.000 --> 0:36:30.080 to me today, I realized that I love that my 0:36:30.200 --> 0:36:36.839 life isn't built on my vision. I wist sit down 0:36:36.920 --> 0:36:41.440 until they stand up and get the fact that it 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:47.279 wasn't based on my vision. But it's his vision. That's 0:36:47.320 --> 0:36:50.560 the only way that you won't perish. That's the only 0:36:50.640 --> 0:36:54.960 way that you won't fall. Your sight may fail you. 0:36:56.400 --> 0:36:59.600 But I praise God today that he's not straining to 0:36:59.600 --> 0:37:03.120 see me. He's not straining to see you. Healed, He's 0:37:03.200 --> 0:37:06.279 not straining to see you all. He's not straining to 0:37:06.320 --> 0:37:15.520 see you. Pleased, hallelujah, Thank you Jesus, all your neighbor. 0:37:15.560 --> 0:37:18.799 Thank God for seeing me, thank God for seeing me. 0:37:22.040 --> 0:37:24.520 Stand up. I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready. 0:37:24.520 --> 0:37:29.040 I'm getting ready to close. It's Father's Day. And as 0:37:29.080 --> 0:37:32.120 I was, God just leaped to me and I saw, 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:35.719 I saw this, and he said, hey, good, take them, 0:37:35.800 --> 0:37:38.160 Take them to Luke. Take them to Luke Chapter eighteen, 0:37:39.480 --> 0:37:41.560 because I want you to see the father's loving this. 0:37:43.000 --> 0:37:45.720 Some of you I may know this story, the story 0:37:45.719 --> 0:37:51.279 of the prodigal Son. They're actually two sons, and the 0:37:51.440 --> 0:37:55.480 younger son asked his father for his inheritance. She says, 0:37:55.480 --> 0:38:00.319 he give me my inheritance, and he ran off and 0:38:00.480 --> 0:38:02.840 it says that he squandered it all. Another way to 0:38:02.880 --> 0:38:07.319 say he lost it all. He fumbled it all and 0:38:08.280 --> 0:38:10.759 got so bad that he's sitting in a pig pin 0:38:12.640 --> 0:38:15.200 and he's so hungry that he wants to fill his 0:38:15.239 --> 0:38:20.600 belly with the pods that the pig eat. It's a 0:38:20.640 --> 0:38:23.719 low place. Some of you are like, I'm in a 0:38:23.719 --> 0:38:26.040 low place, and I don't think he can see me 0:38:26.120 --> 0:38:29.360 that low. Some of you think the only way that 0:38:29.360 --> 0:38:32.840 he can see you is when you're standing up. But 0:38:32.960 --> 0:38:34.719 I love that he sees me when I might be 0:38:34.800 --> 0:38:37.640 laying down and I don't know if I can get up. 0:38:37.680 --> 0:38:43.799 I thank God he sees me, and it's like nothing. 0:38:43.880 --> 0:38:45.000 Put the verse on the screen. Put the first on 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:49.920 sc He says, I will set out and return to 0:38:49.960 --> 0:38:53.200 my brother and say the verse before this. I don't 0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:54.399 know if I gave it to him, but it said 0:38:54.440 --> 0:38:58.520 he came to a census. It's like he took the 0:38:58.800 --> 0:39:03.600 crowd out of the middle of his That's what God's 0:39:03.640 --> 0:39:07.920 doing for some of you today. He came to a census. 0:39:08.600 --> 0:39:12.440 Hold up, hold up, hold on. I can go back 0:39:12.480 --> 0:39:15.359 to my father's house. I can go back to my father. 0:39:15.840 --> 0:39:17.400 This is what blessed me. I'll said out, and I 0:39:17.480 --> 0:39:19.760 go back to my father's house and I'll say them, father, 0:39:20.760 --> 0:39:25.719 I have sinned against you when he came to a since, yep, okay, 0:39:25.800 --> 0:39:27.319 I got you. Y'all went back and got the verse 0:39:27.360 --> 0:39:29.000 for me. Y'all are amazing. Can we thank God for 0:39:29.040 --> 0:39:33.880 the production team? Go to verse nineteen. Go to verse nineteen. 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:37.319 He says, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 0:39:37.440 --> 0:39:42.560 Make me like one of your highest servants. Twenty. So 0:39:42.600 --> 0:39:47.319 he got up and he went to his father. But 0:39:47.400 --> 0:39:54.560 while he was still up alone way off, how far 0:39:57.920 --> 0:40:01.040 look this blessed me. He blessed me because I saw 0:40:01.160 --> 0:40:03.960 Jesus up on the mountains side. And then I saw 0:40:04.040 --> 0:40:07.319 his father sitting maybe on his porch. And while he 0:40:07.480 --> 0:40:11.720 was a long way, the son couldn't see his father yet, 0:40:12.200 --> 0:40:15.239 but the father sure saw his son. And I loved 0:40:15.280 --> 0:40:18.239 what happened. While he was a long way off, his 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:21.879 father saw him. He was filled with compassion for him, 0:40:22.360 --> 0:40:29.399 and he ran. He ran, He ran to his son. Hey, 0:40:29.440 --> 0:40:31.319 some of you went to a Pentecostal church and they 0:40:31.400 --> 0:40:36.560 was running around the church praising God. But hey, some 0:40:36.600 --> 0:40:39.160 of you are like, I'm too tired to run. I'm 0:40:39.200 --> 0:40:41.560 too tired to run. When you're too tired to run, 0:40:41.719 --> 0:40:47.520 he ran to you. He ran to you. Here's the thing. 0:40:48.120 --> 0:40:50.040 Some of you saw God as he was just sitting 0:40:50.120 --> 0:40:56.680 there watching. Watching and seeing is two different things. I 0:40:56.719 --> 0:40:58.600 thank God that I don't have a God that just 0:40:58.719 --> 0:41:01.759 is watching over me, but that sees me, and he 0:41:01.800 --> 0:41:04.400 has compassion for me, and then he runs towards me 0:41:04.440 --> 0:41:07.359 when I need him the most. I thank God for 0:41:07.400 --> 0:41:14.600 seeing me. Then, just to typos, everybody's standing, everybody's standing, 0:41:14.640 --> 0:41:23.440 everybody's standing Hebrews twelve, Verses one and two. It's just 0:41:23.480 --> 0:41:31.640 put everything into perspective for me. Here's what it says. Therefore, 0:41:33.239 --> 0:41:37.160 since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:41.200 let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin 0:41:41.280 --> 0:41:45.560 that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance 0:41:46.600 --> 0:41:49.080 the race marked out for us. What does it say, 0:41:50.000 --> 0:41:55.520 fixing our eyes on Jesus to your neighbor, you better 0:41:55.560 --> 0:41:57.879 look for E. You better look for E. You better 0:41:57.920 --> 0:42:02.920 look for Eve. They here and perfector of our faith 0:42:04.560 --> 0:42:10.920 the joy set before him. He endured the cross, scorning 0:42:11.160 --> 0:42:15.880 its shame, and sat down at the right at the 0:42:15.920 --> 0:42:18.040 throne of God at the right hand of the throne 0:42:18.040 --> 0:42:25.919 of God. What a picture of my sight in God's sight. 0:42:27.680 --> 0:42:33.920 It's blessing me Church, because maybe maybe he was straining 0:42:33.960 --> 0:42:37.520 to see me. Because it says where the joy set 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:48.399 before him, he endured the cross, that that cross wasn't easy, 0:42:49.840 --> 0:42:55.760 and on that cross he had pain. On that cross. 0:42:57.160 --> 0:43:02.759 The pierced his side on that cross. They mocked him 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:07.400 on that cross. They spitted him. On that cross. He 0:43:07.600 --> 0:43:11.920 was straining to take his loudice breath. But this gives 0:43:11.960 --> 0:43:14.319 this blessed to me, he says. But the joy sat 0:43:14.440 --> 0:43:19.799 before him while he was straining. He was seeing you 0:43:19.880 --> 0:43:24.560 saved while he was straining. He was seeing you delivered. 0:43:25.200 --> 0:43:29.360 While he was straining. He saw you with hope. While 0:43:29.640 --> 0:43:33.520 he was straining. He saw you with peace. While he 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:42.640 was straining, he saw you. I'm gonna give an invitation, 0:43:45.280 --> 0:43:47.480 But maybe some of you are like, hey, why were 0:43:47.520 --> 0:43:50.799 they going to Best Saida in the first place? Why 0:43:50.920 --> 0:43:55.000 was he so bent on them making them go to 0:43:55.040 --> 0:43:59.120 best Sayda? They don't get to best Sada until chapter eight. 0:44:00.440 --> 0:44:03.600 And guess who was waiting on that waiting there for him? 0:44:03.840 --> 0:44:13.640 There was a bond man. There was a bond man. 0:44:15.480 --> 0:44:19.560 Maybe you're here today. And the reason why I strained studying, 0:44:19.640 --> 0:44:24.080 I couldn't sleep well last night is because you were bond. 0:44:24.120 --> 0:44:29.000 You couldn't see. And today God was just feeling back 0:44:29.040 --> 0:44:33.080 the scales over your eyes and he wanted you to 0:44:33.120 --> 0:44:36.960 see him. He wanted you to see his love. So 0:44:37.160 --> 0:44:39.839 every one of our campuses, everybody's standing, where you're at, 0:44:39.840 --> 0:44:42.920 if you're a home ony fam if you're everybody's standing, 0:44:43.320 --> 0:44:46.960 want you to bow your head, close your eyes, no 0:44:47.040 --> 0:44:52.120 one moving, no one moving. If you're here today and 0:44:52.160 --> 0:44:54.560 you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you've never given 0:44:54.600 --> 0:44:59.080 your life to him. For the first time you have 0:44:59.200 --> 0:45:02.560 experienced God not on the door of your heart, you 0:45:02.640 --> 0:45:07.560 realize he's not just watching you. He sees you, not 0:45:07.600 --> 0:45:09.759 only that he went to a cross to die for you. 0:45:10.800 --> 0:45:12.440 I want to give you an opportunity to give your 0:45:12.480 --> 0:45:15.719 life to Jesus today. Or maybe you're here today and 0:45:15.719 --> 0:45:17.359 you used to walk with God. You used to talk 0:45:17.400 --> 0:45:19.600 with God, but you walked away from the faith. I 0:45:19.640 --> 0:45:21.160 want to give you a moment to come back home. 0:45:22.360 --> 0:45:24.040 We're going to say this prayer together as a church 0:45:24.080 --> 0:45:26.480 family for the benefit of those coming to God. Everyone 0:45:26.520 --> 0:45:29.640 to repeat after me, say I believe that Jesus Christ 0:45:30.600 --> 0:45:33.040 is the son of God, that he died on a 0:45:33.120 --> 0:45:36.600 cross and a rose from the grave to forgive me 0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:40.239 and my sins. So I'll give you my sins, I 0:45:40.320 --> 0:45:44.479 give you my shame, and from this day forward I'll 0:45:44.520 --> 0:45:50.279 follow you. This is my new beginning. I am a 0:45:50.480 --> 0:45:54.640 child of God. Oh he's about all os closed. If 0:45:54.640 --> 0:45:57.319 you just said that prayer, you meant it making good 0:45:57.320 --> 0:45:59.480 decision to put your faith in Jesus or you're coming 0:45:59.520 --> 0:46:01.680 back to him. I'm gonna count to three, and when 0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:03.480 I get to three, I want you to shoot your 0:46:03.480 --> 0:46:06.200 hand up boldly so we can celebrate this moment with you. 0:46:06.440 --> 0:46:09.719 Here we go one, two, three, shoot your hand up. 0:46:09.719 --> 0:46:13.560 If you're making good decisions to where your faith in Jesus. 0:46:14.480 --> 0:46:18.600 Come on, Come on, Doug. God bless you, God blets you. 0:46:22.760 --> 0:46:23.879 Thank you for joining us. 0:46:24.200 --> 0:46:26.640 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:46:26.719 --> 0:46:30.200 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:46:30.640 --> 0:46:33.200 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:37.600 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information. 0:46:38.120 --> 0:46:41.279 And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 0:46:41.320 --> 0:46:42.520 can share it with your friends. 0:46:42.800 --> 0:46:45.080 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:46:45.120 --> 0:46:47.239 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:46:47.280 --> 0:46:48.120 Elevation Church. 0:46:48.200 --> 0:46:49.840 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.